Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) suggested on Tuesday that he's interested in finding out which members of Congress were communicating with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the events surrounding January 6.
The House of Representatives' Select Committee investigating January 6 released text messages sent to Meadows from as-yet unnamed lawmakers on Monday and the House voted to recommend contempt charges against him on Tuesday.
McConnell said on Tuesday that he was not one of the lawmakers who had been in touch with Meadows on January 6, but appeared to hint that he wanted to know who those members of Congress are.
The Kentucky Republican was asked by a reporter if he had communicated with Meadows to urge former President Donald Trump to do more on January 6. He said he had not contacted Meadows.
"But I do think we're all watching, as you are, what is unfolding on the House side, and it will be interesting to reveal all the participants that were involved," McConnell said.
Text messages revealed by the House Select Committee on Monday appeared to show lawmakers communicating with Meadows about possible objections to the certification of Electoral College votes on January 6.
One member of Congress texted Meadows before January 6 and said: "On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence, as President of the Senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all."
Another lawmaker sent a text message to Meadows after January 6 apologizing for the failure of objections to the Electoral College votes.
"Yesterday was a terrible day. We tried everything we could in our objection to the 6 states. I'm sorry nothing worked," the lawmaker said.
Members of the House Select Committee revealed further tweets sent to Meadows during the floor debate on whether to recommend contempt charges against him on Tuesday.
During the storming of the Capitol, Meadows also received text messages from Donald Trump Jr. and some Fox News hosts urging him to have Trump take action about the riot.
On Tuesday, Republican Representative Liz Cheney, who is vice chair of the House Select Committee, said Meadows "received numerous text messages, which he has produced without any privilege claim, imploring that Mr. Trump take specific action we all know his duty required."
"Indeed, some of those text messages, madam speaker, came from members in the chamber right now," she said.
The names of those members of Congress have not yet been revealed and it remains to be seen if and when they will be publicly identified.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
